


Encounters

by AXEe



Category: Star Trek, Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Documentary-Style, Essays, Gen, Post-Dominion War (Star Trek)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-11-27 10:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18193310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: A comprehensive account of the Federation-Galactic Empire First Contact War





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little crossover fun between my two favorite sci-fi franchises :=). Enjoy! :=)

******

The following is a comprehensive account of the first contact between the United Federation of Planets and the extra-galactic totalitarian superpower known as the 'Galactic Empire' based in the so-called 'Skyriver galaxy'. Taken from various accounts, including Federation News Services reports, ships logs, and interviews with individuals who were there, this account is an attempt by the Federation Historical Society to assemble the most comprehensive, detailed account of the Federation's first contact with an extra-galactic power and the subsequent war between the two powers.

**Background--first encounters with the Skyriver galaxy**

The Federation's first encounter with the Skyriver galaxy occurred in an area of space known as the 'Triangle', a region of largely empty space bordered on three sides by the Federation and Klingon and Romulan Empires.

On stardate 5042459.1, a spatial anomaly appeared in the middle of the Triangle. First reported by the Klingons, a joint survey between the Federation and the Klingons revealed that the anomaly was in actuality a stable wormhole leading from the Triangle to another galaxy approximately three hundred thousand light-years away.

Further investigations revealed that the wormhole also had a temporal differential, meaning that the other end opened several millennia in the past. Despite this, the Defiant-class Federation Starship U.S.S. _Magellan_ \--under the command of Captain Helena Verne--successfully traversed the wormhole to reach the other side with only minor outer hull damage.

Upon arriving in the other galaxy, the _Magellan_ made a series of sensor sweeps and learned some basic information on the galaxy. Transporter functions were disrupted by an unusual energy field that seemed to permeate the other galaxy. In addition, the laws of physics as typically understood by Federation scientists differed between the two galaxies.

While ordinary warp travel was possible, there was also a vast network of subspace corridors spread out across the other galaxy known to its residents as 'hyperspace', which required knowledge of preexisting routes to safely travel.

The _Magellan_ also made first contact with several races native to the galaxy, including a race known as the 'Hutts', who agreed to a series of trade deals with the Federation.

Through trade with the Hutts, the Federation learned much about the history and culture of the galaxy, including the presence of a humanoid species known as 'humans', leading several Federation scientists to suggest parallel evolution or possibly extraterrestrial influence on ancient Earth due to nearly indentical similarities in biology between the two species.

**First Contact with the Empire**

Following the initial journey of the _Magellan_ , the Federation dispatched several more expeditions through the wormhole. After about approximately a year of study, the Federation made first contact with the superpower known as the 'Galactic Empire'.

Initial first contact between the two--with the Federation represented by Captain Verne of the _Magellan_ and the Empire represented by Grad Moff Wilhuff Tarkin--went well, although no formal agreement or alliance was made, the Empire seemed content to allow the Federation to continue exploration efforts. Despite that, Captain Verne noted in both her captain's log and personal log that Grand Moff Tarkin was:

 _'...arrogant and condescending. He seemed to have a low opinion of us, especially of myself, at several times during the meeting referring to me as 'the female captain'. He also seemed to posses an inflated sense of self about both himself and the government he represented, referring to the Empire as a 'source of order and stability'_.


	2. Diplomatic Overtures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Chapter two! Enjoy :=)

******

**Imperial Expeditions into the Milky Way**

Following first contact between the Federation and the Galactic Empire, the Federation Council held an emergency, closed session, where Captain Verne gave a first hand account of her meeting with Imperial representatives. Much to the dismay of the Council, the information provided by the Imperial delegation to the crew of the _Magellan_ revealed a harrowing and disturbing revelation.

Although evenly matched in terms of technology, the Empire had a vast military-industrial complex, allowing it control almost the entirety of the Skyriver galaxy, with hundreds of thousands of soliders and fleets of starships numbering in the thousands, making the Empire a potent threat to the Federation and the Milky Way Galaxy as a whole if they decided to declare war.

Hoping to prevent war, the Federation allowed the Empire to send several scout ships through the wormhole, establishing Starbase 459 jointly with the Klingons to oversee extra-galactic traffic through the wormhole.

**Romulan involment**

In the months following the initial contact between the Empire and the Federation, the Romulan Star Empire--fearing a repeat of the horrors of the recent Dominion War--opened formal discussions with the Federation about the possible threat that the Empire posed to the Milky Way. Agents of the _Tal Shiar_ -the Romulan intelligence service--provided a series of intelligence reports detailing the Empire's movements and capabilities, including weaknesses inherent in Imperial technology.

Together, Starfleet Intelligence and the Romulans drew the following conclusions regarding the possibility of an Imperial invasion:

  * The Empire lacked transporter technology.  
Imperial ships relied on preexisting hyperspace routes for faster-than-light travel.  

  * Imperial 'turbo-lasers' were less effective and versitle than phasers or distruptors.



However, Starfleet Intelligence also drew several harrowing conclusions based on Romulan reports.

  * The Empire was expasionistic and totalitarian.  
Revolts and rebelions against Imperial rule were met with overwhelming force, including orbital bombardment.  
Imperial stormtroopers were indoctrinated to have a nearly-unwavering allegence to the Imperial leadership, similar to the Jem'Hadar's loyalty towards the Founders.
  



**Initial skirmishes--Attack on the _Magellan_**

The first series of skirmishes between the Federation and the Empire occurred on stardate 50242460.1. An Imperial 'star destroyer' approached the U.S.S. _Magellan_ and demanded that she stand to and prepare to receive an Imperial boarding party for inspection under Imperial protocol.

Captain Verne, suspecting that the request for an inspection was a ruse to allow the Empire to gain access to Federation technology, refused and attempted a diplomatic solution, offering to follow the Imperial ship to a neutral area to submit to the inspection, at which point the star destroyer severed communications and attempt to lock onto the _Magellan_ with a powerful tractor beam.

Captain Verne--a veteran and one of the few survivors of the Battle of Wolf 359--ordered the _Magellan's_ shields harmonics to be randomly adjusted, freeing the ship from the tractor beam.

As the _Magellan_ broke free from the Imperial tractor beam, the Imperials opened fire. Fleeing under a barrage of heavy turbo-laser fire, the _Magellan_ jumped to maximum warp, escaping back towards the wormhole and the Milky Way.

Arriving back in the Milky Way, Captain Verne and her crew were forced to abandon the ship just forty kilometers from Starbase 459 when the antimatter containment fields collapsed. Although the _Magellan_ was destroyed in the resulting explosion, her crew all survived and were quickly retrieved.


	3. Preperations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Triple update! Enjoy! :=)

******

Following the attack and subsequent destruction of the U.S.S. _Magellan_ by Imperial forces, Starfleet Tactical went on high alert. The Borg Task Force--headed by former Borg drone Lt. Seven of Nine--was granted additional funding by the Federation Council and given full access to the sensor logs recovered from the wreck of the _Magellan_ , and the _Magellan's_ captain, Captain Helena Verne was put in charge of a special task force--the 'Extra-Galactic Incusion Task Force' ('EGI'), which tasked with studying all available information about the Empire.

**Border Patrol**

As the EGI analyzed all the information that the Federation had complied about the Skyriver galaxy and the Empire, Starfleet ships began to escort Imperial scouts back through the wormhole, while the Empire did the same. Some Imperial ships--having successfully mapped out hyperspace routes in the Milky Way--managed to escape Federation authorities.

Hoping to prevent another war, the Federation--alongside the Klingons--asked for another meeting with the Empire. The meeting, held on Starbase 459, was exceedingly short, lasting only ten minutes, the Klingon delegation--angered by the Imperial delegation's repeated comments about bringing 'order and stability' to the Milky Way--stormed out of the meeting within the first three minutes.

The Federation representative, Ambassador Spock, later commented that the Imperial delegation had shown a:

_'...marked disregard for diplomacy, and seemed to find the proceedings to be a waste of their time'_

Following the disastrous meeting, both the Empire and the Federation each mined their respective side of the wormhole and established strict regulations for travel between the two galaxies. For a time it seemed as if a war would be avoided.

**Imperial incursion**

Unfortunately for the Federation, the Empire saw the attempts at diplomacy as a sign of weakness, and began to amass a small armada. On stardate 5042462.4, an Imperial fleet exited the Milky Way terminus of the wormhole, and despite taking heavy damage from the self-replicating mines, managed to overwhelm the Federation fleet and successfully seize Starbase 459.

The war that the Federation had been fearing had begun


	4. The Drums of War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter four! Enjoy! :=)

******

Despite successfully seizing control of Starbase 459 and thus establishing a foothold within the Milky Way, the Empire's invasion attempt was severly hampered by several factors. Firstly, due to lacking warp drive, they were forced to rely on hyperspace, and while hyperspace travel is faster than standard warp drive it relies on knowledge of preesxisting routes, and while the hyperspace routes within the Empire's home galaxy had been mapped out centuries ago, their knowledge of hyperspace routes within the Milky Way was limited, severely slowing their advance into unfamilar territory. As Jake Sisko--son of Captain Benjamin Sisko--described it, the Federation had the _'home field advantage'_.

Secondly, due to being the sole controling power in their galaxy, Imperial forces were used to dealing with small, disorganzied revolts and rebellions, not combating a group of highly organized powers like the Federation and Klingon and Romulan Empires.

Thirdly, due to the wormhole's presence in the Triangle, the Imperial forces suddenly found themselves surrounded on three sides by advanced interstellar powers.

Finally, dur to lacking transporter technology, the Imperial troops were unprepared when the personel on Starbase 459 were beamed away as they attempted to the board the station, thus denying the Empire prisoners to interogate for information.

**Setting a balance**

As Imperial forces consolidated their presence within the Milky Way, the Klingons began a series hit-and-run attacks on Imperial forces within the Triangle, utilizing their cloaking technology and transporters to full effect.

Meanwhile, the Federation's preperations for repeling the invasion were suddenly mired by the sudden and unexpected passing of Ambassador Spock, one of the Federation's greatest diplomats had died.

Despite this tragic turn of events, the Federation pushed forward to repel the invaders. Starfleet Command put Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway in charge of the Extra-galactic Incursion Task Force, making her the direct superior to Captain Helena Verne. Janeway immediately assigned Captain Verne to work with Lt. Seven of Nine and the Theoretical Propulsion Group (TPG) to develop a Federation version of the Imperials hyperdrive.

Although the Federation had sucsessfully mapped out several hyperspace routes, accessing them via traditional warp drive was largely a matter of trial and error, on at least two occasions a Federation starship encountered a hyperspace route by pure accident, and while once inside the subspace corridor, a starship could safely navigate it, accessing it was another matter entirely.

Further complicating matters was the fact that traditional Federation hull geometry made hyperspace travel difficult; standard Starfleet hull design caused distorions in the subspace field geometry, making for--as Commander William T. Riker of the U.S.S. _Enterprise-E_ described it-- _'one hell of a bumpy ride'_.

However further study revealed that older Starfleet ship designs, such as those used on the Excelsior- and Miranda-classes, were able to transition to and from hyperspace with little difficulty and with far less danger to the ship or crew.

Seizing upon this idea, Starfleet began to modify large numbers of Excelsior- and Miranda-class ships as well several 'mongrel-classes'; starships made from a combination of preexisiting compoients, which reduced time on reasearch and development and allowed Starfleet to mount a surprisingly well-armed defensive fleet by the time that the Empire was able to reach Federation space three months after their initial invasion.

**A game of cat and mouse**

While the Federation was rapidly working on modifying starships, the Romulans menawhile were making exstensive use of their spy networks within the Imperial fleet. Using their spies to feed false information to the Empire, the Romulans were able to cause large numbers of Imperial ships to travel through unstable or unsafe hyperspace routes.


	5. Changing Tides

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter FIVE! Enjoy! :=)

**Ambush of Inverness VI**

Stardate 5042470.2: Imperial forces suddenly emerged from hyperspace outside the Inverness System. Composed of five Class-M planets, the entire system was home more than a quarter trillion inviduals.

Since Federation sensors were incapable of tracking objects moving in hyperspace at the time, Starfleet was unprepared for this sudden assualt in the middle of Federation space, realizing too late that the Empire had successfully mapped out hyperspace routes within Federation borders.

For over twelve hours, Imperial star destroyers laid waste to Inverness VI, killing thousands. Whilst, in orbit, Imperial TIE fighters destroyed the Starfleet armada sent to defend the system, overwhelming some of Starfleet's most advanced ships by sheer numerical superiority, resulting in a devistating loss of life not seen snce the Battle of Cardassia that ended the Dominion War.

**Changing of the Guard**

Following the devistating attack on the Inverness System, the Empire--bolstered by their success--continued on deeper in Federation terriory, seizing control of more than half a dozen worlds--Cortez VII, Vesta, Athena X, just to name a few.

As a result of these devastating attacks, Starfleet Commander-in-Chief T'Mur of Vulcan was forced to resign by direct order of the President. Amid her resignation, the Federation News Services speculated who would replace her.

On stardate 5042473.5, Starfleet annouced its new commander-in-chief: Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Adressing the Federation Council directly, newly-promoted Fleet Admiral Picard, standing before the Great Seal of the Federation in the Council Chambers, gave a rousing speech to the Council members:

_"We are facing an enemy unlike anything we have ever encountered before. An enemy that, like the Borg, not only wishes to destroy us, but our very way of life. An enemy that will not rest until their own emblem replaces this one behind me."_

_"I know that there are some who wish that our government would simply make peace with the Empire. But, as we have seen on the attack on Cortez II, the Empire will not tolerate nothing less than total surrender, and our complete and utter subjecation."_

_"I ask--no, I demand--of all of you: do not surrender, do not give in, do not rest until the balance is restored, until the dream and ideals of the Federation are restored_ "

Admiral Picard's speech was broadcast across the entire Federation on all subspace frequencies, both civilian and governemnt, as well as on Klingon and Romulan bands.

**Breakthroughs**

Meanwhile, at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on Mars, the Theoretical Propulsion Group was slowly making headway in developing a starship engine system that could travel at both standard warp speeds, as well as entering hyperspace.

On stardate 5042476, they seemed to make a breakthrough. Utilizing an old Miranda-class ship's spaceframe, the engineers broke the ship down to it's basic frame, leaving only the warp nacelles untouched.

After installing their experimental engine, the ship--christened 'NXP-2400'--was launched via automatic pilot. After reaching warp one, the hyperdrive was engaged. After only five minutes in hyperspace, the ship successfully emerged from hyperspace in orbit over Vulcan, having crossed a distance of more than ten light-years in five minutes.

Bolstered by the success of this test, the ship was brought back to Utopia Planitia and retrofitting of its shields and weapons systems began. Unable to match the Empire in terms of ship size, Starfleet instead looked to the sucsess of the Defiant-class for inspiration.

Working from this concept, the prototype was fitted with the same type of ablative armor and phaser cannons that were used on the Defiant-class, its warp core was also taken from the Defiant-class as well.

Finally, after only three weeks of construction, the prototype was deemed space-worthy. Built on a spaceframe containing elements of both a Miranda- and Defiant-class ships, the ship was roughly the same size as a Defiant-class ship, and like those ships, was built for war. There were no holodecks, no science labs, and little recreation facilities for its small crew of forty.

Prior to its launch, Starfleet Registry needed a name for the ship. While some simply proposed launching the ship without a name, others argued that giving the new ship a name would serve as a vitally-needed morale boost. It was therefore only fitting that the ship be named after the first Federation starship to cross into the Empire's home galaxy.

As such, the NXP-2400 was re-designated as the **U.S.S. Magellan NCC-97000-A**.


	6. Turning the Tide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter SIX! Enjoy! :=)

******

**Verne of Midnight**

Helena Verne was born and raised on the Human colony of Midnight. Founded by a group of Neo-Luddities during the 22nd century, the colony is a harsh world, orbiting in very close proximity to its parent star, and rotates at a very slow rate, one 'day' on the planet lasts the equvilent of two months on Earth, at which point dawn results in severe firestorms as the atmosphere litterally ignites. As a result most of the colonists live in vast underground cities on the dark side or as nomads on the surface, constantly following the night.

As a result of this harsh enviroment, the colonists have developed an ability to cope with hardship and almost seem to thrive in conflict. It was no surprise then that Starfleet appointed Helena Verne as the commander of the _Magellan-A_.

**Restoring the Balance**

Although the _Magellan-A_ had proved itself satisfactory in in the intial tests, it had yet to proven in battle.

That opportunity would come soon enough with the Imperial assult on Cygnas XI.

Stardate 5042480: Imperial forces exit hyperspace on the outer reaches of the Cygnas System. However, unlike their assualt on the Inverness System, this time, Starfleet is ready for them.

At 0400 hours, Federation Standard Time, the first shots were fired. The starship's _Yukon_ , _Lenin_ , and _Ulysses_ engage an Imperial star destroyer in orbit over Cygnas I.

Taking their cue from the Empire itself, the three starships began a series of straffing runs at the star destroyer, swarming its defenses, taking out its primary weapons in the first run, and destroying several TIE fighters in the second and third runs.

But, when they attempted a fourth run, the star destroy successfully crippled both the _Yukon_ and the _Lenin_ , and destroyed the _Ulysses_.

It appeared as if that the Empire would conqure yet another system.

However, as the star destroyer moved past the crippled starships, the _Magellan_ suddenly exited hyperspace, surprising the star destroyer with a barrage of quantum torpedoes, before preforming a modified version of the Picard Maneuver, jumping to warp for one second, emerging in orbit over the gas giant Cygnas XX.

Seemingly crippled, the _Magellan_ lay in wait as the star destroyer approched.

Suddenly, the _Magellan_ dove into the upper atmosphere of the planet, skimming across the very uppermost layers.

Unknown to the Empire, Captain Verne was using the planet's gravity as a slingshot. Breaking orbit, the _Magellen_ raced towards the star destroyer, firing all weapons a near point-blank range.

In a single second, Captain Helena Verne of Midnight had succseeded in doing waht the Federation had been unable to do during the earlier conflicts of the war: destroy a star destroyer.

Crippled, the star destroyer was pulled into the orbit of Cygnas XX and crushed by the intense gravity, but not before the _Magellan_ beamed aboard several survivors, giving the Federation prisoners and thus information.

For this surprising and vital defeat, the Empire nicknamed Captain Verne the 'She-wolf of the Federation'.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought :=)


End file.
